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Palestinian workers in Israel's illegal settlements: Who profits?

Palestinian, Israeli and international protesters break into Rami Levi
supermarket in the Shaar Binyamin settlement near Jerusalem, to protest
against the Israeli occupation and call for a boycott of Israeli
settlements, October 2012. Photograph by Yotam Ronen, ActiveStills/Whoprofits.org.

January 2013 -- Whoprofits.org -- In
order to work in Israel's settlements, Palestinians must obtain work permits
from the Israeli Civil Administration, which also entails the approval
of the Israeli internal security service (the Shin Bet). This permit can
be annulled at any time, especially when workers demand their rights or
try to unionise, or if they (or one of their family members) engage in
any kind of political activity. This situation exposes Palestinian
workers to extortion by the Israeli internal security service.

Other
gross violations of labor rights in the West Bank are also possible
because the Israeli labour regulations, which apply to these businesses,
are rarely enforced in the Occupied Territories, and the workers cannot
demand these rights for fear of losing their permits. Furthermore,
Israeli employers frequently hire workers through Palestinian labour
contractors, which render the workers more vulnerable to rights
violations.

A business that operates illegitimately
cannot demand legitimacy on behalf of the workers and at their expense.
The case of sweatshops is a useful example for illegitimate corporate
activity that cannot be justified by providing work for those in need.
As is the case with settlement companies, sweatshop operators
manufacture their products in low-wage societies, seeking lower
production costs.

Israeli employers of Palestinians in
settlements have a clear economic interest in maintaining the occupation
of Palestinian land and the exploitation of resources. Companies
establish factories in the occupied West Bank mainly in order to enjoy
the economic benefits provided by the Israeli government, as well as to
have access to cheap Palestinian labour and the indirect benefits of
operating in industrial zones with low safety and environmental
standards and with very lax monitoring and enforcement.

According to a study conducted by Dr
Majid Sbeih from Al-Quds University for the Democracy and Workers’
Rights Center in Palestine, 82% of Palestinian workers have the desire
and willingness to leave their jobs in the settlements, provided that a
suitable alternative is available. However, suitable alternatives will
not be found as long as the Palestinian economy is under occupation.

Settlement companies are responsible for
their conduct and should be held accountable. These employers cannot
claim to represent the interests and the position of Palestinian workers
in any way. In fact, all of the Palestinian trade unions and labour
unions and almost all Palestinian civil society organisations, including
political parties, support the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment
and sanctions (BDS) as articulated by the BDS National Committee (BNC).

The political reality of the occupation
does not allow Palestinian workers to make a free and informed choice
regarding their livelihoods. Most Palestinians are compelled to work in
settlements, since their economy is in ruins after 45 years of Israeli
military occupation.

The document that manifested the
structural tourniquets imposed on the Palestinian economy is the Paris
Protocol –- the economic annex to the Oslo Accords. The Paris Protocol
places Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories under a joint
taxation envelope, the same currency (new Israeli shekel), and imposes
severe restrictions on manufacturing, exporting and importing goods to
and from the Occupied Territories. This trade agreement does not truly
promote free trade, but instead seeks to protect Israeli and
multinational corporations from competition by local industries.
Moreover, this situation blocks the development of an independent
Palestinian economy and keeps it as a captive market for Israeli and
international companies.

Palestinian workers lost their land and
livelihood to the Israeli occupation. Eleven per cent of Palestinian workers in
settlements work on confiscated lands originally owned by their families
or one of their relatives. Providing Palestinians with jobs on their
own stolen land is another humiliating insult that they are forced to
bear in order to provide for their families. The settlement industry's
revenues are a direct result of shameless exploitation of Palestinian
land, labor and resources. The industry's existence on occupied land
enables, deepens and perpetuates the Israeli occupation.